Nursing bottle



June 6, 1961 R, LEONARD NURSING BOTTLE Filed Jan. 2, 1957 20 fzverz ar kfqyaz Zeorzard- United States Patent 2,987,209 NURSING BOTTLE Royal Leonard, P.0. Box 1051, Glendale 5, Calif. Filed Jan. 2, 1957, Ser. No. 632,138 2 Claims. (Cl. 215-11) This invention relates to nursing bottles and particularly to an improved form thereof characterized by the complete exclusion from the interior of the bottle of air ordinarily introduced to compensate for the Withdrawal of the contents and by a valve means which is effective to permit liquid flow to the nipple but which positively precludes the reverse flow of either air or liquid whereby extraction of the contents through the nipple may be either by sucking or by lateral compression on the nipple as by biting thereon.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a nursing bottle construction whereby the admission of compensatory air to the interior of the bottle as an incident to the withdrawal of the contents through the nipple is positively precluded.

Another object of the invention is to provide a nipple valve construction which readily permits fluid flow from the bottle into the nipple, incident to exteriorly induced pressure differential but which positively prevents reverse flow of either liquid or air therethrough.

A further object of the invention is to provide in unitary form a nursing bottle comprising a rigid case and a flexible liquid container component normally disposed within the case component and permanently united to the case at the case and container opening.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a nipple valve means comprising a base element insertable into a seat within the nipple and a separable, flexible valve element carried by the base element effective by cooperative action with the base element to permit fluid flow into the nipple and to preclude the reverse flow of either liquid or air therethrough.

' With the foregoing objects in view, together with such other and additional objects as may subsequently appear, the invention resides in the parts and in the construction, combination and arrangement of parts, described, by way of example, in the following specification of certain presently preferred modes of execution of the invention; reference being had to the accompanying drawings which form a part of said specification and in which drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of the top and bottom ends of a nursing bottle embodying the present invention, the intermediate portion of the bottle being omitted to conserve space in the drawings,

FIG. 2 is a greatly enlarged medial, sectional longitudinal view taken .on the line 2-2 of FIG. 1 and showing one embodiment of the invention,

FIG. 3 is a reduced scale, perspective view, with portions broken away, of the united casing and container components shown in the said first embodiment of the invention,

FIG. 4 is an enlarged scale, exploited, view of the valve means shown in FIG. 2,

FIG. 5 is a similarly exploited view of a second form of valve means,

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary, side elevational view, partly in section, of a second embodiment of container element,

FIG. 7 is a medial sectional view similar to the upper portion of FIG. 2 but showing the valve means of FIG. 5 used in conjunction with a bottle component comprising a casing and a separate container such as shown in FIG. 6,

FIG. 8 is an exploited view of a third embodiment of container means usable with the separate casing shown in FIG. 7, and

Patented June 6, 1961 FIG. 9 is a reduced scale, fragmentary, side elevation, partly in section, showing the assembly of the container means shown in FIG. 8.

Before proceeding with a detailed description of the invention it should be mentioned that the objective is to provide a nursing bottle from which all entrapped air can be exhausted prior to giving the bottle to the infant and in which there is no possibility that air can enter the bottle until the nipple is removed after use. To this end the three forms of nipple valves are equally effective and can be used with any of the three forms of casing and container combinations disclosed. The valve and container components are, however, required to be used together and if not so used, the resulting combination will either be inoperative or at best highly unsatisfactory. This is mentioned so that as the detailed description proceeds, it will be appreciated that the effective use of the flexible container requires the presence of a valve, preferably located in the nipple, which will readily permit the exhausting of air and the subsequent passage of liquid into the nipple, but which will absolutely preclude the reverse movement of air or fluid into the container.

Referring first to FIGS. 1 through 4, there is shown a first embodiment of the invention including a bottle-shape casing 1 formed from a rigid or semi-rigid plastic or even from glass having a hole 2 in the bottom thereof. Threads 3 at the upper end of the casing accommodate the usual screw cap 4 which has a ledge 5 overlying the end of the casing to clamp the flange 6 of a nipple 7 against said edge. The container component 8 is formed from thin flexible plastic material and has a flange 9 overlying the end of the container mouth and the casing and container are united into a unitary structure by being permanently connected together only at the said end of the casing mouth. The container component can be removed from the casing by being turned inside out through the casing mouth to permit cleaning both the inner surface of the casing and the outer surface of the container at the same time.

The nipple 7 contains a valve assembly 10 comprising a rigid base element 11 of hollow, frusto-conical configuration having a peripheral flange 12 at its \larger end for engagement with the inner wall of the nipple above the inner valve supporting flange 13 with the smaller end of the base element 11 extending toward the container. Detachably positioned on the inner face of the base element is a resilient valve element 14 which is likewise of hollow, frusto-conical configuration with the smaller end thereof being closed and formed into a slightly flattened bulb portion 15 which, when projected through the opening 16 at the small end of the base member, serves to detachably hold the valve element in place on the inner wall of the base element. The base element 11 is shown as formed from a plastic molding and is therefore provided with holes 17 extending therethrough in lines parallel to the axis of the base element; said holes being normally kept closed against the flow of air or liquid from the nipple to the container by the valve element 14 which overlies said holes and said element being sufiiciently resilient to allow the flow of air or liquid from the container into the nipple in response to pressure differential sutficient to effect flow in that direction.

In use, the container is disposed within the casing and is then filled to the desired extent with the infant food. The nipple with the valve inserted therein is secured in place by the cap 4. Then by pressing upwardly on the bottom of the container with the finger or a blunt implement through the opening 2 in the casing, the contents are moved upwardly into the nipple expelling any entrapped air ahead of the contents. The expulsion of liquid through the nipple holes will indicate that all air has been expelled. The bottle is then ready to be given to the infant.

As the food is consumed, the container is. collapsed by pressure of the atmosphere on the container walls through the opening 2 in the casing thus, no means for leaking compensatory air into the container is required. Moreover, the nipple valve responds to slight pressure differentials and will allow the liquid to enter the nipple as it is withdrawn therefrom. Withdrawal may be either by sucking or biting on the nipple or both. If the infant bites on the nipple compressing the interior, the liquid will be expelled through the holes and the return of the nipple to its normal form will supply sufficient pressure differential to draw the required amount of liquid into the nipple without drawing air through the nipple holes. Thus, to achieve the most desirable characteristic of the capability of first expelling entrapped air and thereafter preventing the reentry of air together with the capability of expelling liquid either by sucking or by biting on the nipple, it will be observed that a valve which is normally closed in all attitudes of the bottle is essential. Furthermore, this valve will hold any contents remaining in the nipple when the bottle is opened for cleaning until the valve assembly is removed from the nipple thus avoiding spilling of the nipple contents.

Referring next to FIGS. 5, 6 and 7, there are shown other embodiments of the invention in which the container element 18 is separate from the casing 1 and is preferably formed from thin, flexible plastic but lacks the flange 9 shown in the first described embodiment. In place of this integral flange a thin collar or thimble 20 is secured to the outer portion of container neck 19; said collar preferably being formed of rigid or semi-rigid platsic and having an outwardly flaring flange 21 adapted to rest on the end of the mouth of the casing 1. The nipple 22 illustrated is generally similar to the nipple 7 except that the upper face 22' of the internal, valve supporting flange thereof slopes inwardly and downwardly to accommodate the valve assembly 23 as will be presently described. The outer flange 24 of the nipple rests on the flange 21 of the container element and is secured thereon by the cap 4.

The valve assembly 26 comprises a rigid base element 25 of hollow, frusto-conical configuration, preferably formed of a thin metal stamping. It is disposed in the base of the nipple 22 and rests on the face 22' of the valve supporting flange with the smaller end of the base element extending toward the container. Detachably mounted in the base element 25 is a resilient, thin wall, frusto-conical valve element 26 having a close, bulbous smaller end 27 adapted to be projected through the axial hole 28 in the smaller end of the base element with the valve element resting on the inner surface of the base element and covering the holes 29, 29 extending through said base element. This valve acts in the same manner as the valve previously described in that in response to pressure differential, it will allow air and liquid to pass from the container into and out of the nipple but it will positively prevent the flow of either air or liquid back into the container and, after the entrapped air has been exhausted in the manner previously described, it will operate in this manner regardless of the attitude occupied by the bottle.

Referring finally to FIGS. 8 and 9, there is shown a third modification of the casing and a detachable container. In this embodiment, the container 30 is formed with a peripheral head 31 surrounding the mouth thereof and a separate plastic or metal thimble 32 adapted to fit within the containermouth is provided to hold the container open within the corresponding end of the casing, said thimble having an annular flange 33 overlying the head 31 of the container effective to press the said bead against the end edge of the casing mouth when the nipple is clamped thereon by the cap 4. This form of the invention is best suited for those uses in which the up flexibility is desired in the container wall and more particularly in are illustrated by way of example. From the foregoing specification, it will be appreciated that there has been provided a nursing bottle in which all internal air can be expelled prior to giving the bottle to the infant and in which, once the air is so expelled, there is no possibility that the air can re-enter. Consequently, this improved nursing bottle completely obviates the possibility of colic from the swallowing of air by the infant.

While the foregoing specification discloses by way of example, certain presently preferred modes of execution of the invention, it is not to be inferred therefrom that the invention is limited to the exact form so disclosed and it will be understood that the invention includes all such modifications and changes in the parts and in the construction, combination and arrangement of parts as shall come within the purview of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a nursing bottle, a rigid casing having a mouth portion, a separate, flexibly collapsible fluid container removably disposed within said casing and having a mouth portion disposed within said mouth portion of said casing, an opening in the wall of said casing through which atmospheric pressure may act on the exterior of said container, a nipple having an entrance orifice detachably secured in communication with the mouth of said container and having discharge orifices at the distal end thereof, and a normally closed, pressure responsive valve means detachably mounted in said nipple and interposed between the discharge orifices of said nipple and the interior of said container; said valve means comprising a rigid base member detachably mounted in the nipple and a resilient valve member resiliently self attachable and self detachable from said base member and being operative by cooperation with said base member to permit the exhausting of entrapped air from said container through said discharge orifices and the subsequent pressure differential induced flow of fluid from said container into said nipple incident to external pressure on the wall of said fluid container and to prevent the flow. of either air or fluid from said nipple into said container at all times and in all attitudes of said container.

2. In a nursing bottle having a fluid container formed of material having suflicient flexibility to be collapsed by external atmospheric pressure as the contents are depleted and a nipple secured to and disposed in communication with the interior of said container, the combination of a normally closed, pressure responsive valve means interposed between the discharge orifices of the nipple and of the interior of the container; said valve means being eflective when said container is positioned with said nipple uppermostand is subjected to external pressure greater than atmospheric pressure, to permit the expulsion of entrapped air therethrough by the upward movement of the contents through said valve means and into said nipple; and, after expulsion of entrapped air, to respond to atmospheric pressure on said container to permit the flow of liquid contents into said nipple as the contents are withdrawn from said nipple and at all and in all attitudes of the bottle to prevent the flow of either air or liquid from said nipple into said container; said valve means comprising a rigid, hollow, base element of inverted frusto-conical configuration having a fluid passage extending through a wall portion thereof, and a thin resilient valve element of inverted frusto-conical configuration overlying the inner face of said base element and eifective to close said opening and to serve as means for detachably securing said element to said base element.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 6 Allen Feb. 14, 1950 Rigby et a1 Sept. 26, 1950 Head May 20, 1952 Hair June 10, 1952 Teague et a1. July 22, 1952 Clemens Dec. 30, 1952 Hoag Mar. 11, 1958 Barton Mar. 3, 1959 

